Why do you consider Kevin Drum “cool headed”?
He seems to simply be a full-on Keynesian, with little value add. His starting point is that $38B in spending cuts might be “apocalyptic”. Sure he talks himself down off the ledge, but that hardly seems praiseworthy.

Wonks AnonymousApril 13, 2011 at 3:51 pm

An unoriginal, full-on Keynesian can easily be “cool headed”. “Cool headed” doesn’t mean “worth reading”, neither is a subset of the other.

ThomasApril 13, 2011 at 3:02 pm

Drums says: “My guess is that if the price of keeping Medicare intact is a return to Clinton-era tax rates, a modest future increase in the payroll tax, and some moderate but real cost controls, the American public will buy it. That’s just not a big price to pay.” Lots of work is being done by “modest” and “moderate but real” here. Those two things have to close a gap of several percentage points of GDP.

AndrewApril 13, 2011 at 7:02 pm

“Lots of work is being done by “modest” and “moderate but real” here.”

Not to mention “guess.”

BrettApril 13, 2011 at 3:15 pm

Dateline says st pete on story 1, even though it’s on the miami herald site.

Rich BergerApril 13, 2011 at 4:04 pm

I don’t know about Kevin Drum, but our president can’t be matched for his way with words-

“The fourth step in our approach is to reduce spending in the tax code. In December, I agreed to extend the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans because it was the only way I could prevent a tax hike on middle-class Americans. But we cannot afford $1 trillion worth of tax cuts for every millionaire and billionaire in our society. And I refuse to renew them again.

Beyond that, the tax code is also loaded up with spending on things like itemized deductions. And while I agree with the goals of many of these deductions, like homeownership or charitable giving, we cannot ignore the fact that they provide millionaires an average tax break of $75,000 while doing nothing for the typical middle-class family that doesn’t itemize.”

Who knew that raising taxes = reducing spending? Is there anything this man can’t turn into comedy gold? A 21st century Midas, indeed.

It ranges from wrong to lying. The tax code has a structure. It was voted on. They thought it was great until they ran up their bills too high (and not to mention fueld a housing bubble with the awesomeness of home ownership to which he STILL pays lip service). The difference between the tax structure now and what they have recently decided they prefer is not ‘spending.’ The ‘typical’ middle class taxpayer…who doesn’t itemize. I could go on, but I don’t feel like pissing myself off. It’s not worth it anymore.

mulpApril 14, 2011 at 12:23 am

But all of Obama’s 2009 tax cuts were excessive spending that didn’t create jobs.

The turn around on jobs occurred after ACA passed with tax hikes, just like the Reagan job losses turned into creation after he signed his second tax hike in 1982/83, losses that began after he signed the tax cuts in 1981.

Of course Reagan never said tax hikes, but called the bills he signed revenue enhancers. The gas tax was enhanced in 1983 from 4 to 9 cents, definitely not a tax hike.

AndrewApril 14, 2011 at 6:42 am

Coupons aren’t called spending. Discounts aren’t called spending. Sales aren’t called spending. Collecting revenue in a way they decided at one time but that is different from how they feel now is not ‘spending.’ That the government is the only entity that some people call this ‘spending’ is the first clue. They decided they wanted to promote home mortgageship, they shouldn’t have, now they only want to correct their error when they are out of money. That’s fine, but I prefer words to reflect reality.

AndrewApril 14, 2011 at 7:10 am

Here is the problem with torturing words. You start out promoting ‘home ownership’ when you are really promoting mortgages. You end up with people having negative equity, owning less than they did before the closing, and you don’t understand how you got there, or that you are to blame.

rhApril 13, 2011 at 4:11 pm

3. The War Nerd’s got a recent post up which could, too, have been called “The wisdom of the IMF”. Very funny.

dirkApril 13, 2011 at 7:07 pm

5. I don’t vote so that I have the right to comment on blogs. It’s either-or, right? I’ve chosen my lot.

axaApril 13, 2011 at 7:33 pm

3. I couldn’t find the original Carlo Cottarelli (IMF Fiscal Chief) declarations, but the WST has a whole different opinion on the subject:

Of course Reagan never said tax hikes, but called the bills he signed revenue enhancers. The gas tax was enhanced in 1983 from 4 to 9 cents, definitely not a tax hike.

James CApril 14, 2011 at 7:48 am

“Many homeless people have criminal records, Rolle said. But they also have mental disorders and health problems, which is why they should not be beaten in a garage with no regulation or medical supervision, he said.”

is this a joke? you immediately lose the moral high ground if you want the government to get a piece of the action through regulation.

“Although maybe it’d be more honest if they re-stenciled them with the IMF logo, with a new motto—instead of the usual French “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” mantra they paint on everything, make up something more in line with their new job as debt collectors for the big bankers. Something like, “Pay up or we break your thumbs,” or something more like the original three-word motto: “Austerity, Usury, and We’ll Break Your Thumbs Anyway.”

“The weirdest part is the way the French made a point of handing Gbagbo’s poor fat ass over to Ouattara’s thugs as soon as they siphoned him out of his bunker. They’ve got to assume that Outtara’s men will kill Gbagbo. They’re not squeamish; they just killed a thousand-odd civilians up north, as even their UN/IMF backers admitted. So why make such a big point of giving them Gbagbo?”

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